#seeing Karlie as a mama is precious

[kwyw]

I can’t handle how adorable this is 😍

(x)

[luna-rainbow]

Karli Morgenthau - the ode she deserved

*Super long post warning* because it's directly proportional to my frustration

She's an orphan who's had to live rough until Mama Donya took her in. The woman gave her a home and taught her love. Taught her that even people like her, willfully forsaken by society, was deserving of love.

They got by, but it was a struggle, and then the Blip happened.

The world was suddenly bigger, the communities smaller. Jobs freed up, as did resources, infrastructure, and people's capacity to care because everyone was in this grief together. Lives became so much more precious because so much was already lost. Everyone came together to rebuild, and these forgotten children finally found a place in society.

Then the Blip ended and the world was flooded with overpopulation. People like her, with no connections, no power and no family, were the first to end up back on the streets, but that wasn't the worst of it.

Suddenly, resources that had been plentiful to share were no longer enough.

Food, water, clothing, shelter, energy, medicine, money, education, jobs...everything was in short supply. Needs that were so basic and essential are suddenly considered a luxury.

People begged the GRC for help, but all they received were empty promises and impatient dismissals, and they go home only to see another loved one dying of hunger, cold or illness.

What would it take to change the world? Mama Donya understands when Karli leaves for Madripoor but doesn't stop her. The world is unfair, she tells the child, but never lose the love you have for people.

In the lawless city, she finds the Power Broker. At first, she thought she met a kindred spirit - a woman similarly betrayed and abandoned by the world she believed in. But Sharon only wants to take advantage of people's greed to advance her own empire. Karli is still thinking about the dying children at home.

She needed strength, and she makes what she thinks is the bravest decision of her life: she steals the super soldier serum.

She starts stealing from the rich to give to the poor, but the supplies are limited and the need is endless. The GRC laments that they don't understand how complicated it is, but to Karli, food and medicine are simple needs made complicated by people in their ivory towers.

They must be doing something right, because everywhere they go, they are met with gratitude and generosity. But the GRC and media call them criminals, and the clashes turn increasingly violent. Karli spends so much time running from refuge to refuge she does not hear about Mama Donya until it's too late.

The woman who taught her love was dying from TB - an illness that could have been prevented and treated if only the world had spared them some love.

Resources were rotting in GRC depots while people died outside its walls. Strength wasn't enough. It was time for a statement.

Karli blows up the GRC building.

She sees the horror in her companions' eyes, the unspoken alarm and doubt. She sees the younger children watching her with adoration and admiration.

She knows she's in way over her head, but she of all people cannot back down, not for all the kids behind her.

When Sam first meets her, she snarls, "Don't condescend to me."

The world is treating her like a child, dismissing their demands as fantasies and refusing to hear their stories. But their suffering is not a dream, and their reality is created by these adults with their hands over their ears.

All she can do is to scream louder.

She threatens Sarah in order to separate Sam and Bucky from John Walker. She wants to use Walker's death to make a statement, but accidentally kills Lemar instead. She takes the GRC members hostage in a bid for them to listen to her demands.

Deep down, she knows she's doing it wrong. She knows this is not what Mama Donya has taught her to be. Her own companions are dying, and the ones who are left are now watching her with open uncertainty. She had an understanding ear in Sam, but she's pushed him away by involving Sarah.

At the end, she reaches out to Bucky.

He's a super soldier known for cold-blooded assassinations. Surely, if anyone could understand her, it would be him.

"I'm fighting for something bigger than myself," she says desperately.

But Bucky doesn't give her the answer she hopes for.

"The nightmares won't go away. Don't go down this path."

But it is too late.

The nightmares are already with her. The screams of the GRC guards from behind the flames. The weeping of the parents who lose their sick child. The crack of the pole as Lemar hits his head. The beeping of the machine as Mama Donya takes her last breath.

The deaths were hounding her, whether she moved forward or back. The nightmares were never going away.

Her plan to kidnap the GRC members is foiled. She's separated from her companions, who she knows are losing their conviction. The man she had called on for help was working with Sharon, who smirks at her when she asks how much power does the Power Broker really have, "More than you."

Sam, the only person who has sympathised with her, is dressed in the stars and stripes, the very symbol she has been trying to tear down.

She's trapped and alone and made a fool of, and never had she felt more like a helpless child.

As she picks up the gun, Sam looks her straight in the eye.

"What's next?"

I don't know.

"You kill ten this time, then what, a hundred?"

No.

"Where does it end?"

I don't know.

She just wanted the world to be better. She just wanted people to stop dying. She just wanted to go back to a time when love was aplenty and lives were precious.

When did she lose sight of that?

"I'm sorry."

(PS: I'm never going to forgive the script for glossing over her motivation because she could have been one of the best female characters + antiheros in MCU)

[stillsearchingforsomething]

I think I forgot to say your name

Beverly Hills - March 2021

Karlie whips her head around at the sound of the bedroom door creaking open, a brilliant smile overtaking her face when she sees Taylor tip-toe inside. “Congratulations baby!” Karlie whisper shouts, practically vibrating with excitement from her position perched at the top of the bed, propped up against a couple of pillows. She sits up taller so that she can angle their son closer to Taylor but that’s made more complicated due to the fact that he’s still latched on to her for a midnight feed. 

“Look Mommy’s home!” She smiles, her gaze shifting between the bundle in her arms and her wife who is almost within touching distance. She moves her other arm underneath him to support his weight so that she can reach out with her free hand for Taylor as soon as she’s within touching distance. Taylor dodges around Karlie’s outstretched arm, depositing her Grammy on the bedside table and doing her best to ignore the confused pout on Karlie’s face at her evasion. 

“Karlie, no,” Taylor whines swatting Karlie’s hand away. “I’m gonna go take a shower, stay there.”

“Fine, but be quick,” Karlie sighs dramatically, showing her impatience. 

“I’ll be 10 minutes tops, don’t move!” Taylor says as she ducks into their adjoining bathroom and closes the door behind her.

“Where does Mommy think we’re gonna go, huh buddy?” Karlie asks the newborn nestled in her arms, shaking her head at her wife’s antics. 

Some time later when the baby has finished his feed and Karlie has him perched on her shoulder gently rubbing his back, trying to get him to burp before he falls asleep again. 

“One thing you need to know about your mommy is that when she says something is going to take ten minutes, it’s more like twenty or even thirty,” Karlie says quietly just as Taylor re-emerges from the bathroom. 

“Are you bad mouthing me to my kid already?” She asks, with an eyebrow raised at Karlie as she takes a seat at the head of the bed beside Karlie, close enough that their thighs are pressed together. 

Taylor leans over to press a slow kiss to Karlie’s lips, mindful of the baby in her arms between them. 

“Hi,” Taylor breathes against Karlie’s lips when they pull apart, smiling too wide to continue the kiss, watching as Karlie’s eyes flutter open.  

“Hi yourself,” Karlie mumbles, tangling her free hand in Taylor’s still damp hair, holding her close.  

“There are my babies,” Taylor sighs, tearing her gaze away from Karlie’s face to fix on the baby in her arms, fingers reaching out to trail over his soft, downy brown hair.  

“Congratulations babe, we’re so proud of you,” Karlie whispers as she leans over to place a soft kiss against Taylor’s cheek. 

“Thank you,” Taylor whispers, ducking her head with a shy smile. “How was he?” Taylor asks, reaching for her son and Karlie transfers him to his mother, taking care not to jostle him too much as Taylor takes over burping duty. 

“Perfect,” Karlie says softly, her heart swelling at the sight of her wife cradling their baby. ”He fell asleep about an hour in though.” 

“How does it feel?” Karlie asks, tearing her gaze away from the newborn to look back to Taylor. 

“It feels pretty good,” Taylor responds, laughing softly.

“We weren’t expecting you home so early,” Karlie observes, the digital clock on the nightstand indicating that it’s only just after 1 am. 

“There isn’t anyone else in the world that I’d rather celebrate with,” Taylor shrugs. 

“Your Mommy is a sweet talker baby boy,” Karlie chuckles and she shifts closer to Taylor. She wraps her arms around Taylor’s waist from behind, encouraging Taylor to lean back against her until she’s nestled against her chest. 

“Pity we can’t celebrate properly,” Karlie mumbles, trailing her nose along the curve of Taylor’s shoulder before following that trail with her lips over her shoulder and up the side of her neck. Karlie smiles at the shiver she can feel course through Taylor. 

“Rain check?” Taylor asks hopefully, turning to meet Karlie’s eyes over her shoulder.

Karlie hums her agreement into the soft skin of Taylor’s neck, pressing a kiss there. “I’ll be all over you in 4-6 weeks.”

“Can’t wait,” Taylor whispers, turning to brush a kiss to Karlie’s temple before returning her gaze to the little bundle in her arms, both women entranced by their son as he slowly falls asleep. 

Taylor is unsure how much time has passed, she could spend hours looking at her son’s face but she glances over to Karlie and sees that she has drifted off where she’s sitting against the headboard. 

“Mama’s asleep,” Taylor says quietly to the sleeping baby in her arms. “We should get you to bed. You’ll be up for another feed in no time.”

Taylor carefully extracts herself from Karlie’s arms, careful not to wake her wife or her baby. She walks around to the bassinet that sits on Karlie’s side of their bed, laying the newborn down, making sure to tuck his blanket around him securely. She’s broken out of her reverie staring down at the sleeping infant when she hears Karlie shifting on the bed. 

Taylor walks back over to her side of the bed and crawls back into bed beside Karlie. She gently shakes Karlie’s shoulder loathe to wake her up, but the position that Karlie has fallen asleep in can’t be comfortable, her neck bent at an awkward angle.  

“Karlie, sweetheart you should go to sleep,” she whispers in the taller girl’s ear. 

“I am asleep,” Karlie whines, refusing to open her eyes. 

“Babe you’ll get a crick in your neck, lay down,” Taylor says quietly, nudging Karlie until she relents and shifts to lie down on the bed facing Taylor, close enough that they’re both sharing the same pillow. 

Taylor wraps her arms around Karlie and begins to trail her hand up and down Karlie’s back, her fingers drifting under the loose material of Karlie’s shirt, trailing aimless patterns against smooth skin. Karlie hums in contentment and snuggles closer to Taylor’s side. Taylor smiles and turns her head to brush her lips against Karlie’s temple. 

“Kar?” Taylor whispers and it echoes in the silence of their bedroom. “Baby,” she presses when she doesn’t get a response from her wife. 

“Mmmm?” Karlie mumbles, cracking open a bleary eye to look at Taylor. Something in Taylor’s expression pulls her back from where she had been teetering on the brink of sleep. 

“I just wanted to say thank you,” Taylor whispers. 

“For what?” Karlie asks, her brow furrowing in confusion and Taylor thinks for the hundredth time that night how lucky she is. 

“I didn’t get to thank you properly earlier, so thank you for putting up with me and always supporting me and loving me. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without you and I want you to know that I appreciate everything that you do for me,” Taylor whispers.  

They had discussed what Taylor was going to say in her speech beforehand and even though they both know who Taylor was really referring to as the person she plays all her music to first, Taylor still wants to make sure that she thanks her properly and that Karlie knows how grateful she is for her constant love and support, even if it can only be privately for now. 

Karlie doesn’t know how to respond to Taylor’s sweet words so she leans in and presses her lips against Taylor’s, kissing her softly once and then again for good measure. Karlie wraps her arms around Taylor’s waist and intertwines their legs under the covers. 

“Baby, of course, we’re married, it’s kind of in the job description,” Karlie says teasingly, enjoying the way Taylor smiles at her. 

“Yeah well, you do it particularly well,” Taylor says softly her lips brushing against Karlie’s with every word before she steals another kiss, wanting to make sure that Karlie knows how much she means what she’s saying. 

“You’re welcome, anytime,” Karlie mumbles patting Taylor’s back distractedly before turning over on her other side facing away from Taylor.  

“But Taylor, I swear if you don’t let me go to sleep before our kid wakes up again, I will kill you,” Karlie threatens, only half joking. 

“Sorry, sorry, go back to sleep,” Taylor whispers as she shuffles closer to Karlie so that her front is pressed against Karlie’s back. 

“I love you,” Taylor whispers as she presses a soft kiss to the back of Karlie’s neck.

“Love you too,” Karlie mumbles back and Taylor can hear the smile in her voice even though it’s muffled in her pillow. 

Taylor wraps an arm loosely around Karlie’s waist, smiling when she feels Karlie reach down to lace her fingers with Taylor’s and tugging her hand up so that it’s nestled under her chin. Taylor presses one last kiss to the back of Karlie’s neck before closing her eyes. She lets the gentle in and out of the breathing of the two most precious things in her world lull her to sleep, golden grammy statue discarded on her bedside table. 

[bettyshoweduptotheparty]

This is so real I love it 🥰 😜

My kids have the same age gap as Karlie’s boys and spit ups and toddler fingers in your ear while holding a baby is pretty much how I remember having two under three.

I can’t handle how adorable this is 😍

(x)